The following are excerpts of what Highsmith wrote last year for his class and what the 11-year-olds wrote eight years earlier for their peers, both provided by the News and Observer. You be the judge.

First Highsmith's: "Poultry farming is raising of turkeys, ducks, chicken and other fowl for meat or eggs. Poultry farms can be breeding farms where they raise poultry for meat, or layer farms where they produce eggs. The 'best' breeds depend on what you want from them. Good egg layers are Rhode Island Reds [brown eggs] and Leghorns [white eggs]."

Now the 11-year-olds': "Poultry farming is raising chickens, turkeys, ducks and other fowl for meat or eggs. Poultry farms can be: 1. Breeding farms where they raise poultry for meat, or 2. Layer farms where they produce eggs."

This has to be embarrassing for Highsmith, and it certainly doesn't bode well for the football program, which is currently serving a one-year bowl ban for an alleged academic fraud scandal under former coach Butch Davis.

Did we mention this has to be embarrassing for Highsmith? How will this go over next year at the NFL Scouting Combine (if he's even invited) when he has to explain himself in interviews?